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Jada Pinkett Smith Goes Off on the Golden Globes for Failing to Nominate Tiffany Haddish

Jada Pinkett Smith

Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

The Golden Globe nominations were announced on Monday, and among the biggest head-scratchers from the list was the absence of movies and performances like The Big Sick and Tiffany Haddish’s standout role in Girls Trip, and nominations for directing for Jordan Peele (Get Out) and Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird). Perhaps(?) coincidentally, those critically acclaimed crowd-pleasers all prominently involved women and/or people of color, as many have noted.* After vaguely expressing her own disappointment yesterday, Jada Pinkett Smith, one of Haddish’s co-stars, revisited the subject in more depth on Twitter today.

Even though the Golden Globes are generally regarded as less “serious” and far more unpredictable than other awards—they’re voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a small organization made up of under 100 members, in comparison to the academy’s 8,000-plus membership bloc—there is something to be said for the structural barriers that still exist for women and people of color in the industry writ large, as Pinkett Smith points out. The Golden Globes, like the Oscars and other award shows, are a reflection of that.

A source with knowledge of the Golden Globes process tells me that there was a screening for HFPA members held on July 18. And as Variety’s Kristopher Tapley tweeted, they were also sent screeners, so it seems like they had ample opportunity to see it, which has also been available to stream and rent since the fall. (Tapley does also confirm that they were unable to get a press conference together for Girls Trip and Get Out, due to conflicts.) It’s unclear how many members have actually seen the film, which has made far north of $100 million at the box office. But it’s hard to imagine which potential backstory might be worse—that they didn’t bother to see this excellent comedy that happened to star four black women, or that they did, and were somehow immune to the uproarious charms of Haddish.

Dec. 12, 2017: This post originally misspelled Jordan Peele’s last name.